Israel Olatunde beat his own Irish U-23 100m record of 10.24 seconds in his men's 100m heat at the European Athletics Championships in Munich on Monday morning.
Olatunde beat his own record by recording a time of 10.19pb
The Dundalk native ran in lane 8 and finished just 0.01 off Paul Hession's 100m Irish record,
Speaking before the heat, the 20-year-old said: "Championships are about beating the fella next to you, but Munich should be a fast track, so you just never know what could happen."
It was very nearly the fastest 100m ever run by an Irishman and – all things considered – it was by some way the best.
💥10.19 FOR ISRAEL!!! — Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 15, 2022
Israel Olatunde has secured his place in the 100m semi-finals with a 10.19PB to take the win in heat 3🙌🇮🇪 Only 0.01 off the Irish record😮 Improves on his own U23 record (10.24)🔥
...and all from lane 8!
Full result: https://t.co/duBForRvTf#Muninch2022 pic.twitter.com/noOKVlEv9c
Speaking after the run, Olatunde added: “It was kind of a blur, but when I crossed the line, I looked over, saw 10.1 and was like, ‘yep, that’s good."
“That’s where it matters – to produce your best at championships. I’m happy to come out with the win, but now it’s all about the semi-finals.”
He will now get things going again in the semi-final. If he comes in the top two tomorrow, he will move to the final.
The final is also tomorrow evening, 9.15pm Irish time.
He was then asked about breaking Hession’s record and remarked
“It’s good to run fast but it’s also important to beat the guys next to you, so that’s what I’m going to focus on now.”
In other news Fionnuala McCormack secured a seventh-place finish in the women's marathon at the same European Championships in Munich.
Poland’s Aleksandra Lisowska won with a time of 2:28:36. McCormack finished with a time of 2:29:25.
Irish team-mates Ann-Marie McGlynn and Aoife Cooke were 29th and 34th respectively.
Ballina AC’s Hugh Armstrong is currently taking part in the men’s marathon.
It's another top 10 in a major competition for the heroic Fionnuala McCormack 🤩🙌🇮🇪 — Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 15, 2022
Another superb performance from the 4-time Olympian who left nothing out there💪
⏱️7th in 2.29.25
Winning time 2.28.36
Full result: https://t.co/D741eIHUmD#Munich2022 pic.twitter.com/gaEUyBORQn
Finally Eric Favors missed out on the shot put final, finishing in 15th place. The top 12 went through but the Raheny Shamrock AC man didn't make the cut after throwing 19.34m, 19.38m and 19.71m.
